Conversion of wavelengths of light, e.g., received by a digital camera, to values of a color spectrum such as a red, green, blue (RGB), is performed to enable display on a computer system. Known methods of converting RGB values to the colors of the visible light spectrum exist. However, in typical color conversions, many colors are missing in this spectrum. Missing colors include brown, tans, beige, white and grey, as these and other colors are produced by mixing various wavelengths of light.
Wavelength is brought up frequently in the discussion of color conversion because all colors arrive at a digital camera or other device as a wavelength or combination of wavelengths within the visible spectrum. Once the image arrives in the camera, the image is converted into one of several formats, all having a relationship to the 3-dimensional characteristics of the RGB model (e.g., hue, saturation, value (HSV), or hue, saturation, luminance (HSL)). While converting from visible light to RGB is quantifiable, once an image has been stored in this format there is no method of converting to a spectrum or other sort of palette, due to the subjectivity of how humans perceive colors.
While mathematical conversion models exist to translate RGB to a wavelength-based spectrum of colors, problems exist because the spectrum of visible light does not include the colors of grey, brown or tan because these colors are produced by mixing various wavelengths of light.